Since bold did not turn into big, bold actions, I thought about taking a page out of Holley Gerth’s playbook and using my 2017 word again this year. Her 2017 word was “Content” and she discovered it had so many layers that she is using it again this year.

I figured that if I used “bold” again this year, I could focus on the big, bold actions instead of everyday boldness. However, I decided against it.

Paperweight Inspiration

Several months ago, one word kept coming to mind, so I settled on it. That word was

“BE”

It started with the paperweight on my desk.

During several months, certain devotions, quotes, and articles would lead me back to the word “BE.”

So in late November, I decided “BE” was my word for 2018. I ordered Neil Diamond’s Johnathan Livingston Seagull soundtrack, which contains the song Be. Then one day something happened that made me question my word choice. So I started praying about my word and decided “BE” would no longer be the word.

The words I considered instead were Joy, Kind, Hope, Faith, Love, Pray, Thanksgiving and Serve. I could make a case for anyone of these words. I was like a Weeble, I wobbled from word to word but would not fall down in any direction. (These are so stinking cute, I just might start collecting them.)

Runner-Up

The word that ended up being 1st runner-up (and will assume the crown should the winner not be able to carry out her duties)

Kind would be appropriate because as customer service call center representative, you need to be kind, very, very, very kind. This applies whether your field is logistics, collections or lawn mower parts.

However, something kept nagging at me about my word choice.

DaySpring

A couple days ago, DaySpring (website) offered a link to a quiz that would help you determine your word for the year. I took the quiz. So I took it. Well based on my answers to their questions, it said my word for 2018 should be

JOY

Well, imagine that. Since my blog is JoyReturns, I should use “Joy” as my word for the year at least one time.

So JOY it is.

TOOLS

The tools I will be using are prayer and thanksgiving. I will put together a complete list of tools including books, music, quotes, websites, and scripture and publish it in a separate post. It is 7:34 p.m. on Monday night as I write this post and I only just solidified this decision at dinner time an hour ago.

So stay tuned, I do not know where this JOY venture will lead me this year.

I leave you with the view of the sky for January 1st, 2018. It was taken from my kitchen window as I waited for the spaghetti to finish cooking.